When The Alpha Chose My Half-Sister

The night they crowned Dominick the youngest Alpha to ever unite three territories in the Pacific Northwest, I stood beside him and smiled so hard my jaw ached.

The great hall of Ironveil was packed. Every ranked wolf in the region had come — Alphas, Betas, Gammas, their Lunas draped in silk and territorial pride. The chandeliers threw warm gold light across the crowd, and the noise was enormous: laughter, clinking glasses, the low hum of wolves who could feel the shift in power and wanted to be close to it. Dominick stood at the center of it all in a black suit that fit him like it had been stitched onto his body, his Alpha aura rolling off him in waves so thick I could feel it pressing against my skin even though I was his mate, even though I was supposed to be immune.

He looked like a king. He looked like he had been born for this.

I wore a deep emerald gown, fitted at the waist, my dark hair pinned up to show the curve of my neck — the unmarked side, because we hadn't done the marking ceremony yet. That was supposed to come after the coronation. A private thing. Something I had been looking forward to for months.

My wolf, Sera, was restless inside me. Not anxious. Excited. She had been purring all evening, drunk on the energy of the crowd and the pride of standing next to the most dominant wolf in the room.

"Luna Sasha." A deep voice to my left. I turned to find Reid, Dominick's Beta, inclining his head. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with the kind of face that never gave anything away. "The delegation from Ashfall wants a word with the Alpha. Should I hold them?"

"Let them through," I said. "But after the toast. He's about to speak."

Reid nodded and disappeared into the crowd. I watched him go, then turned back to Dominick, who was leaning down to hear something from his Gamma. He caught my eye and winked.

I felt it in my chest. That pull. The mate bond, warm and steady, like a hand pressed over my heart.

I loved him. I want that to be clear. Whatever came after — whatever I did and however I did it — I loved him that night. Completely.

The toast happened. Dominick raised his glass and the hall went silent, five hundred wolves holding their breath while the new territorial Alpha spoke about unity, about strength, about the future of Ironveil. His voice carried without effort. Alpha tone threaded through every word, not commanding, just present — the way gravity is present. You didn't resist it. You just felt it.

The crowd roared. I clapped with them, my emerald ring catching the light.

Then the crowd surged forward to congratulate him, and I was pressed close — closer than I'd been all evening — as wolves reached past me to shake his hand, to clasp his shoulder.